Mariya Agapova ‘f*cked up’ in taking Shana Dobson bout, details struggles prior to upset loss

LAS VEGAS – Mariya Agapova’s huge upset loss to Shana Dobson shocked the MMA community, but not her.

The UFC flyweight had a tough set of circumstances entering the fight with Dobson, which she was heavily favored to win in August 2020. Agapova was on a three-fight winning streak and Dobson was on a three-fight skid. Despite that, Agapova was stopped in the second round, creating one of the biggest upsets in UFC history.

From personal life problems to issues in her career, Agapova knew she shouldn’t have stepped in the cage against Dobson at UFC on ESPN 15.

“I just was having a lot of troubles in my life that I didn’t decide, I just took a new fight and I should take my time,” Agapova told reporters at Wednesday’s UFC Fight Night 194 media day. “I should’ve rest, I should’ve fix my life before coming back to a new fight. But I think that fight was too fast and I tried to jump high as possible, but I f*cked up.”

Agapova fought two months before the fight with Dobson, winning her UFC debut bout via submission against Hannah Cifers. The 24-year-old feels she didn’t have proper time for a camp, recover from the weight-cut for her UFC debut, and didn’t have things in order in her personal life to facilitate her fighting career.

“I’m from Kazakhstan, and there’s bad economic (situation), and I was struggling before I signed with the UFC,” Agapova said. “I was struggling really bad. I was riding my bicycle like five, six hours a day because I didn’t have a car. After my UFC fight (against Dobson) I bought myself a car and now I don’t have to ride my bicycle everywhere.

“It’s very comfortable now. Now, this camp I feel much better. With this money I made my camp was comfortable and my conditioning was comfortable. I tried to make everything best because I have money now. Before my fight with Shana Dobson I didn’t take a break, I didn’t fix my life. I didn’t get a car to myself. I just kept going and my body was already exhausted from past cut, past fight, past camp. I didn’t give myself time to recover.”

Agapova now returns 14 months later, as she takes on Colombia’s Sabina Mazo this Saturday at UFC Fight Night 194 in Las Vegas. This time around, she had proper preparation, as her last bout was a big lesson for her.

“In Invicta FC and other promotions I could do it – fight every month and that’s Ok,” Agapova said. “But in the UFC, you can’t do that because everyone is so good. You can’t fight so early, you have to recover and be in the best shape you can be. Sometimes is better to take time and rest and get your things done and come back stronger.”

Watch the full interview with Agapova in the video above.